DQs shake up Morgan tourney

Three golfers were disqualified from the Donald R. Morgan Kenai Golf Association Club Championship after they decided to get in a few extra holes after completing first-round play Saturday.

That's a no-no in golf. But according to tournament director Felix Martinez, the golfers, Jesse Wade, Doug Jung and Gordon Griffith, didn't realize they were violating the rules until after they had begun to play another round.

"They turned themselves in when they realized it," Martinez said.

A fourth player, Martinez's brother Nick, also was disqualified Saturday after he realized he turned in an incorrect score. Felix Martinez said all the golfers were unhappy they'd disqualified themselves, but didn't complain about the ruling.

"It's tough, but it's the rules," he said.

However, the ruling doesn't mean the three will be kicked out of the tournament. Martinez said that although their scores won't count, the four will still be eligible for side prizes, such as the skins event and the closest-to-the-pin competition.

"They're still going to come out and play," Martinez said.

The disqualifications had a noticeable effect on the leader board. Had he not been disqualified, Griffith's 81 would have put him in second place, just two strokes behind first-day leader Todd Eskelin, who shot a 79. Jung would have been tied for third with an 82.

Instead, Billy Applewhite has second place to himself with an 82, and Ken Liedes and Jerry Norris are tied for third at 84.

"It's a whole different ballgame now," Martinez said.

The women's side of things didn't need any rules excitement to shake things up, as Paula Crowley shot a 90 to take a three-stroke lead over 2002 runner-up Rita Botelho. Botelho is looking to atone for last year's tournament, where she lost a 6-stroke lead in the second round and wound up in second place to Pam Martinez.

Martinez however, may have plans of her own. She's in third place going into today's final round after shooting 98, and certainly not out of the chase. Last year she stormed from behind on Sunday, shooting an 89 to win by four strokes.

Golfers lucked out Saturday, as weather conditions were partly cloudy and mild. Martinez said he's hoping the weather will hold out for another day.

"We'll see," he said.

The forecast for today calls for cloudy skies with a chance of rain. Today's final round begins at 8 a.m.